(CNN) - The candidates for Senate in Wisconsin stuck to their talking points in an animated debate Monday night. Republican Ron Johnson blamed the three-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold for what he said were the failures of Washington, and Feingold said Johnson offered no solutions to the problems.

"He doesn't have any answer, he doesn't have any plan, he just wants to say we've got all this debt and all these problems, but he gives you absolutely no idea of what he would do about it," Feingold said. "It's not the responsibility you need from a U.S. Senator."FULL POST

(CNN) - How much is too much? Government spending and reducing the deficit were the major themes of the second Kentucky Senate debate on Monday between Democratic candidate Jack Conway and Republican candidate Rand Paul.

Conway, the state's attorney general, spent the majority of the debate attacking Paul's positions on cutting government programs.FULL POST

(CNN) - Sarah Palin's post-primary season has been busy. Republican John Raese, who faces Democrat Joe Manchin in the West Virginia Senate election can be added to Palin's growing endorsement list. She backed his candidacy in a new Facebook note along with eight other candidates in six states across the country.

In primary races, Palin's endorsement record stands at 19 wins and 11 losses. Her official impact as an endorser will be determined on November 2, midterm election day.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - Bad timing: Carl Paladino's critical comments about gays couldn't have come at a worse time for him and other Republicans. Paladino is down double-digits to his Democratic opponent Andrew Cuomo in the New York governor's race, but beyond his own race why is this important? With 22 days to go until Election Day, GOP candidates in the Empire State and across the country would prefer to be talking about other things such as their plan to revive the economy – not Paladino's remarks.FULL POST

(CNN) - Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona has a narrow lead over Democratic challenger Terry Goddard in her bid for a full term in office, according to a new survey.

A Rocky Mountain Poll released Monday indicates that Brewer faces stiff competition from Goddard, the state's attorney general, when it comes to registered voters, with Brewer holding a 38 to 35 point advantage among registered voters, with more than one in five undecided.FULL POST

(CNN) - The Secret Service is now shedding some more light on the circumstances surrounding a man who threw a book at President Obama at an event in Pennsylvania Sunday. And they're not throwing the book at him.

According to Secret Service spokesperson, Ed Donovan, the person involved was an overzealous author who just wanted to toss his book into the president's reading list.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - If Rep. Steve Driehaus didn't already face an extremely difficult re-election bid, a move Monday by national Democrats is making the freshman's task even tougher.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is pulling the plug on television commercials for Driehaus after this week. A Democratic source confirms reports earlier Monday by the Rothenberg Political Report and by the National Journal's Political Hotline that the DCCC has canceled its media buys after this week. But the DCCC will still finance get out the vote efforts in the district.FULL POST

A new poll from the Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University finds a huge disparity when it comes to which voters are motivated to vote in upcoming midterm elections.FULL POST